New affordable housing development for seniors in Oceana County's city of Hart gets tax credit

HART, MI -- The new affordable senior housing complex in Hart is benefiting from a relatively new tax incentive from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA) that will have a multiplying effect on the community.

The Lake Pointe Apartments project on Hart Lake, a $4.2 million development, is expected to be completed at the end of summer 2013.

Courtesy photo

"This project is a striking example of how the Low Income Housing Tax Credits program positively impacts the state's economic recovery by leveraging further investment in a community," MSHDA Executive Director Scott Woosley said in a press release.

"We anticipate that the $4.2 million in Housing Tax Credits will leverage, conservatively, more than $4 million in private equity for the city of Hart," he said. "This sort of investment and community building is possible in other communities throughout the state through the program."

The building site has 150 feet of frontage on Hart Lake, 19 one-bedroom and six two-bedroom apartments in the 26,000-square-foot, three-story building. The first residents are expected to move in this summer.

The project was made possible by the Low Income Housing Tax Credits administered through MSHDA.

“The location of this new development will promote a high quality of place in a walkable community and an expectation of increased economic activity, investment and job creation for the entire area,” said Sen. Goeff Hanson, R-Hart, who has been involved with the project for many years.

According to the press release, the fixed 9 percent Housing Credit rate was extended by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 -- the provision authorizes Housing Finance Agencies, including MSHDA, to apply the fixed rate to Housing Credit allocations made before Jan. 1, 2014, rather than to developments placed in service before Dec. 31, 2013, as the current law requires.

In the press release, Woosley also said they intend to do whatever it takes to promote the preservation of the program.

"This year alone MSHDA allocated about $35.3 million in 9 percent tax credits to 37 developments throughout the state, creating 2,982 units of affordable housing,” Woosley said. “We are working hard to make sure this trend continues in coming years."